ex machina
the eric update - day 196: happy 3rd original due date day! an ipod mini!
even though we just celebrated his 6 month "real" birthday, we think it's still appropriate to observe the fact that today is odin's third third "original due date" day! in other words, in many important ways he's three months old today.
appropriately enough, as he's getting older his napping habits are changing and he's spending more of the day awake. so, we took some time today to convert his co-sleeper, which he barely uses anymore into a "play yard" ( if you're not a parent and of a "certain age" you might not know that calling them "play pens" is apparently not considered politically correct ).
i suppose i should note that putting your child in a "play yard" is considered to be a heinous form of child abuse to adherents of certain flavors of the attachment parenting philosophy. the idea, i guess, being that one should do what is known as babywearing continuously for about the first year.
of course, we're big fans of the weego, but odin is already pretty good at letting us know that there are times when he's more than happy to not have us lug him around the house. and for those times we'll be happy to let him amuse himself i n the play yard.
in this picture, he's discovering for the first time that the picture book he received from misscaro makes a fun krinkle krinkle sound when he touches the cover.
phew. playing in the play yard is tough work and odin takes a moment for a hearty yawn.
or maybe he's just taking the music to heart. since at the very moment this picture was taken he was rocking out to lazy head and sleepy bones" from they might be giants' "no" album.
and continuing along with the theme of unpaid product endorsements, you may have noticed odin's new ipod mini! he's been kicking out the jams for a long time with his cd player, but we thought it was time for him to upgrade as having to swap cds in and out of the player is so very 1985.
hopefully he'll let me borrow it if i ever start training for marathons again.
1/16/2005 09:49:00 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I have just stumbled into your pictures at Flickr and, from them, followed the link here.
This was some two hours ago; I read Odin's story's backwards, but this didn't make it any less thrilling or wonderful. It's an amazing story, very lovingly told; I'm feeling lucky and happy for having found it, and I thank and congratulate you on being such a careful father.
You are both terrific parents, and Odin is one of the cutest and bravest little boys on the web.
A warm, big hug from Rio to you all!
Cora
Nah, that's not at all the idea of attachment parenting. Lots of babies go through phases where they really do cry every time they're put down, so the idea of wearing your baby and continuing with your day is really helpful. The idea of attachment parenting is to be in tune with your baby's needs as opposed to expecting your baby conform to your needs is the idea of attachment parenting. If you notice that Odin is content in his play yard and would rather have room to kick around, that's attachment parenting.
Many parents don't use the play yard simply because the floor works just as good, I think very few people think they're evil. LOL. It's more like their babies hated them. But, if it works, the play yard can certainly keep a baby safe once he/she is crawling. It can also keep the pet toungue baths at a minimum (our cats were always too fat to jump in LOL) ;-)
Nah, that's not at all the idea of attachment parenting.while i agree that the concept of a play yard is not "banned" in mainstream attachment parenting, i do think that it's easy for adherents to get that impression. e.g. if you look at the wikipedia entry on attachment parenting, you'll see that it describes "baby wearing" as an activity, "...which should occur pretty much continuously for at least the first year." if you type in "play yard" and "attachment parenting" into google you'll find articles such as " What Not to Buy for a New Baby" ( three guesses as to what you're not supposed to by ) where the take home message is, "Most of these space- and money-saving strategies offer an additional benefit: parent-child bonding. Steering clear of ”babysitting” gadgets and gear helps not only simplifies your household but also puts you and your baby in a position to build even stronger connections – simply wonderful, indeed!". the implication throughout the article is that except for brief periods of "floor time" you should be picking up your baby and presumably "babywearing" continuously. again, i agree, that mainstream attachment parenting theory doesn't really take things to that extreme, but we've met people who quite literally believe that you're not going to not properly bond with your child if you put them in a play yard or other form of "”babysitting” gadgets" for a half hour while they have fun doing whatever ( we'd probably just do "floor time" but that's not really practical with the dogs ). somehow i think some people mix together the tenets of attachment parenting with the rather mundane fact that it's not a good idea to plunk your child in a play yard or a swing for hours on end and come up with the conclusion that all "babysitting gadgets" are evil.
b.t.w. i very much like your description of the of what attachment parenting is supposed to be about.
You are both terrific parents, and Odin is one of the cutest and bravest little boys on the web. |
wow. thanks for taking a moment to leave such a kind comment!
Yeah, I know a couple of those "attachment extremists" but usually, I find their point of view has come from their own experience. Some babies really do like to be held constantly, and if they're set down, they are not happy like Odin. But, they assume their baby is the norm and that all babies insist on being held all the time. But, if they had one of those babies who actually screamed and squirmed in a sling or carrier, you better believe they'd probably set the baby down once in a while. ;)
Hmmm. I consider our approach attachment parenting, and I never read anything about being attached at the hip. The kids do sleep with us, and in general I do my best to give them my complete attention when I'm around.
Like cora, we ditched the changing table and playpen for the floor. We let gravity work for us instead of against us.
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“"it is hard to be brave," said piglet, sniffing slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal." rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said: "it is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us."”
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this site chronicles the continuing adventures of my son, odin, who was unexpectedly born on the fourth of july at 25 weeks gestation, weighing 1 pound 7 ounces.
he's quite a fighter and you can always send him a postcard to the most current address listed here if you're inspired by his adventures. see the postcard project/google maps mashup to see a map of the postcards.
if you're new, you can browse the archives to catch up. and don't forget to watch a few movies that i made while we were in the neonatal intensive care unit. or if you want the abridged version and you can find a copy, you can read about his adventures in the november 2005 issue of parents magazine.
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